Valve mechanism



. c: NEwcoMB VALVE MEICHANISM f Filed April 1; 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l ATTORNEYS May 8, 1923- V 1,454,331

Y l E. c. NEWCOMB l VALVE MECHANISM Filed April l, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i@ @www Patented May 8, 1923.

UNIDEN S'I'IES Parana oramai. .A

EDWARD C. NEWCOMB, OF SCITATE, IEASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGIQR TO STANDARD ENGINEERING COMPANY, F ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. l

'VALVE IIECHANISIVI.

Application le'd April 1,

To all whom t may concern: y

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. NnwooMB,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the town of Scituate, county of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Valve Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to valve mechanism adapted to be used in the construction of engines or pumps, and although features of the invention may be applied to engines andl pumps of different types, the valve mechanism is expected to be particularly useful when applied to reciprocating steam pumps for cont-rolling the operation of the valves of the steam cylinder. The general object of the invention is to produce a valve mechanism of simple construction which will operate to effect the quick opening and closing of the valves and which will operate to impart a reduced movement from a movable part of the engine to the valves without necessitating the use of a complicatedA motion reduction mechanism. In practicing this feature of the inventio-n I absorb relatively large reciprocating movement of the piston by means of a spring or springs which yare compressed by a portion of the reciprocating movement and store up energy which is utilized to move the valves. By reason of the use of these springs, the opening and closing movements of the valves are quick and this tends toward ehiciency in operation of the engine.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter. v

The invention consists inthe novel features, and in the general combination of parts to be particularly described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce a simple and elicient valve mechanism. A. preferred embodiment of my invention will be particularly described in the following specification, while the broad scope of my invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure l isa side elevation .and partial which actua-tes the valves.

192e. sei-iai No.v 370,364.

section through a steam-driven reciprocatingI` pump embodying my invention; *lgure 2 1s a' plan, the valves being shown 1n cross-section, as on line 2-2' of F igt-41, with their actuating mechanism omitted,

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the pump 55 taken at the steam end and partiallybroken away;

Figure 4 is a section taken line 4 4 of'Figure '2;

. Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken 60 through the inlet valvesy and illustrating the communicating. connection. between them, and their relation to the inlet ports in the cylinder heads; and

Figure 6 yis a horizontal section through 65 the exhaust vvalves Villustrating their communlcating connection and showing their relation to the exhaust ports. i

In practicing theinvention I provide a movable member-which is mounted in any suitable manner so that it will be moved by the operation of the engine or pump. As this member moves it imparts `.motion through aY spring to an -actuatingmember If desired, this movable member may be attached directly to the piston or `to another reciprocating part of the engine; near the end of each. stroke this movable member comes into conabout on the tact with a spring and compresses the-spring, f

and through the spring-imparts the opening and Closing movements to the valves. In this way I impart a reduced amount of movement to the valve mechanism which, however, is sufficient to effect the operation of the valves. In the present instance I have 'illustrated the invention as applied to a common type of tandem cylinder steamdriven reciprocating pump. 'A water cylinder l and steam cylinder 2 havea common 90 piston rod 3 which is attached t0 the pump piston 4 and the steam piston 5. The piston rod passes through. suitable stuffingboXes 6 and 7 in the adjacent heads of the pump cylinder and steam` cylinder. To the piston rod 8, I" attach a movable member 8 which movesfto or fro at each stroke-.of

the engine; on" each'iSde 0f this mmber 8 I provide a. spring which is compressed by the last part of the movement in each stroke and thereafter imparts the movement to the valves.

I shall now describe the valves and the contiguous parts of the valve mechanism. These valves are of reciprocating Aand poppet type, mounted so as to open by a sliding move ment away from the middle transverse plane of the cylinder. The steam cylinder may be provided with two inlet valves 9 and 10 which are preferably disposed opposite to each other and is likewise provided with two exhaust valves 11 and l2 which are also disposed opposite to each other. Between the valves l provide actuating means which may be lin the form of a vrocker 13 .pivotally mounted 'at 1.4: on a bar 15 (see Fig. V1), the ends of vthe bar 15 beingseeured to theengine iframe. This actuator o r rocker is provided With any suitable means operating in s ueha Way,that when the rocker moves in one direction, it opens `an inlet valve at one end of the cylinder and opens an exhaust valve at lthe opposite end of the cylinder. This effect may vbe very simply accomplished by placing, the stems 16 of the inlet valves substantially in alignment with veach other so that they may be operated alternately rby a tappet 17 in the form of a lug projecting from the face of the rocker, Each inlet valve is provided with a spring 18 for returning it to its seat. ln the position `of the rocker shown in Figure f1.y the inlet valve i9 is open .andthe valve 10 will be closed.

rlhe exhaust valves 11 and 12 may be alternateljlf opened by an exhaust Vtappet 19 and these valves :are normally held on the seats by a spring 2.0 corresponding 'to `each valve. Live steam is admitted 'through a cap or bonnet 21 screwing into the end of the valve 9 in which a .steam chest 22 is formed; a similar steam chest is formed in the valve 10 and these steam chests communicate by horizontal ports 23 with an inlet manifold `or pipe`24l; this manifold inlet admits steam to the inlet valve 10. ln each of the valves 9 Iand 10 the live steam is admitted on the outer side of the valve Vhead 25.

Each of the valves 9 and 10 iS .provided with an inlet port 126 (see Figs. `2 and 3) which admits steam through the adjacent cylinder-.head 27. These Aports .26 of course, communicate with the valve chamber of each valve under Ythe valve head 25, so that when the valve is lifted oil its seat steam will l'ovv into the cylinder. Each cylinder head 27 is also `provided with an outlet port 23 (see Figs. 2 and 3) ,andeachot these ports 23 'communi- Cates vvithfthe valve vchamber 29 of the .exhaust valve 12 vabove the valve head 130 oi the exhaust 'va ve (see Figs. 11andf'3) gesch-valve 'chamber 29 'below the 'valve head is pro- 'spring y37 is vided with a laterally extending` port 31, and these ports are connected by a manifold or pipe 32 so that the exhaust steam from the valve 12 is carried over in the pipe 32 to the exhaust valve 11 from which the exhaust steam passes through an outlet 33 (see Figi'. 1). The manifolds 24 and 32 are simply tubes, the ends of which extend into the heads 27.

ln order to operate the actuating` member or rocker 13, l provide a stem 3ft which is mounted to slide longitudinally on the engine frame. This stem 3a passes loosely through a bore in the end of the arm 3 and is provided with two adjustable lixcd collars 36. Adjacent to each collar a provided vdisposed around the stem 34C. At each stroke of the en;j se :end :of the arm 3 engages one of the Y 37 and imparts movement through l i 37, to the corresponding collar 36 and tl" by causes a longitudinal 'shiftingw mov M1nt of the stem 321C. This movement .is imi Y. to then rocker 13 by meansof two Vadjust-able fixed collars 33 `which engage opposite si of the upper kend of the rocker Fi Any suitable valve mechanism l?. water cylinder' 1 maybe provided. l' purpose l may employ a simple inlet cheel: valve 39 (see Fig. 4;),1andan outlet check valve 4:0. rEhe valve chamber 39SL of the inlet valve communicates with the interior of lthe cylinder 1 through a suitable inlet port 391. Likewise, the valve chamber e0 ci 'the out-let valve communicates with the interi or oit the cylinder 1 through a suitable outlet Y 40". lf desired, two inlet valves be connected together by manifold 41. (ll: course, a similar manifold could-'be used 'lor c necting up the outlet valves. Howe illustrated, lha-ve simply shown each of these valves with an outlet 42 (see l). 'lhe check valves 39 and 4l() may be ot any suitable construction as illustrated and may `be provided each with a spring` 43 tendinel to return them to their seats.

ln the inode of operation olf the valve mechanism it should he understood, that a moving part of the engine, :tor example` the arm 3, at each stroke compresses one et the springs 37 near' the end ol its stroke. instance, suppose that the arm 3 nieves fmv1 vor ward the right from the position that it is j the shown .in Figure l; as the piston nea] end ot its stroke the spring 37 the of the arm 3 will he compressed and will store 11p-energy very rapidly,y the force that this spring can exert therefore, su'ddenlj.7 'hccomes much greater than the force ner' sary to unseat the valve hea d 25 of the inlet valve 10; this will cause the valve 10 to open and admit steam to the right hand end oi the cylinder 2 through the port 26 ilig.

The 'raising of the valve is course accomplished by the 'rocking' movem'ent of the rocker 13 in a clockwise direction caused by the vshifting of the stem 34 toward the right. This rocking movement of the rocker also unseats the valve head 30 of the exhaust valve ll and allows steam in the cylinder 2 to exhaust through the port 28 and outlet 33. A similar mode of operation octhe outlet valve 40. A similar mode of operation occurs with the valves at the other end of the cylinder l during the other stroke ofthe piston.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments my invention may take, and I do `not wish to be limited in the practice of my invention nor in my claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim and desire to secure by -Letters Patent, is:

l. In a valve mechanism for a steam engine, the combination of a steam cylinder, a steam piston reciprocating therein, inlet and exhaust valves for controlling the flow of steam to and from the cylinder, a rocker extendingtransversely to the cylinder, a member for actuating the rocker, means for moving the same by the piston 'in each reciprocating movement thereof, the inlet valves being located opposite to each other, one at each end of the cylinder, and the exhaust valves being located opposite to each other, one at each end oit' the cylinder7 a spring associated with each valve to close the same after it has been opened, an inlet tappet carried by said rocker between said inlet valves, and an exhaust tappet carried by said rocker between said exhaust valves, said tappets cooperating when the rocker is actuated to open an inlet valve at one end of the cylinder and simultaneously open an exhaust valve at the opposite end of the cylinder.

2. In a valve mechanism for a steam engine, the combination of a steam cylinder, a steam piston reciprocating therein, inlet and exhaust valves for controlling the flow otl steam to and from the cylinder, a rocker extending transversely to the cylinder, a member moving with the piston, a spring on each side of said member, actuating means moved by said member through one of the springs at each stroke of the piston rod, an inlet tappet on said rocker, the inlet valves being located onopposite sides of the inlet tappet, an exhaust tappet on said rocker, the exhaust valves being located on opposite sides of said exhaust tappet, a spring associated with each valve to close the same after it has been opened, the inlet tappet being adapted to engage and open one of the'inlet valves when moved in one direction and the other inlet valve when moved in the'other direction, the

exhaust tappet being adapted to engage 4and open one of the exhaust valves'when vthe rocker moves in one direction and lengage and open the other exhaust valve whenl the rocker moves in the other direction.

3.V In a valve mechanismvfor a steam engine,

the combination of a steam cylinder, apiston, a piston rod attached to the piston, a stem guided to move substantially parallel with the piston rod, an arm carried by the piston rod, collars carried by the stem on each side of the arm, a. spring on the stem adjacent toeach collar on each side of the arm whereby the arm imparts a sliding movement to the` stem by a force acting through a spring in each stroke of the piston, a rocker mounted so as to be rocked by said stem, a pair of inlet valves located respectively on opposite sides of the rocker, a pair of exhaust valves located respectively on opposite sides of the rocker, an inlet tappet carried by thev rocker for alternately engaging and opening said inlet valve-s, and an exhaustv tappet carried by said rocker for alternately engaging and opening said exhaust valves.

4c. In a valve mechanism, the combination of a steam cylinder, an inlet poppet-valve at each end of the cylinder and having a head .with a stem projecting toward the middle transverse plane of the cylinder, said inlet valves beinglocated opposite to each other, a spring' at each inlet valve for returning the `same to its seat, each of said inlet-valves having its steam chamber adjacent the outer side of the head, and said cylinder having an inlet port for each inlet valve on the side-` of the valve head adjacent to the valve stem, an exhaust poppet-valve for each end of the cylinder, said exhaust valves being located opposite to each other and each having a head with a stem extending toward the middle transverse plane of the cylinder. said cylinder having anexhaust port :for each exhaust valve located adjacent the outer side of the valve head, and an exhaust outlet located on the side of the valve head adjacent the valve stem, a spring with each exhaust valve for returning the same to its seat, and

reciprocating means located between the valve stems for actuating the inlet valve stems alternately and the exhaust valve stems alternately.

5. In a valve mechanism for a steam driven pump.v the combination of a. fixed steam cylinder, a piston with a piston rod reciprocating in the cylinder, a head at each end of.

the cylinder and constructed as a separate piece, an inlet valve for each end of the cylinder, said inlet valves being disposed opposite to each other, one in each head, a tube valves being locate-d opposite to each othei,

a tube consisting of aseparate part connecting and openinof communication between the two exhaust va ves, a rocker secured to and mounted so that it is capable of only a rock- 10 ing movement upon a, fixed pvot at the side of the cylinder and having a tappe-t correspondingl to the inlet valves to open the same alteinately, and a second tappet corresponding to the exhaust valves for openingthe exhaust valves alternately, and means Carried by the piston rod for actuating` the tappet.

In testimony whereof7 I have hereunto set my hand.

EDTWARD C. NEVCOMB. 

